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BeWild with Brendan Leonard - June 18

Brendan Leonard bought the url semi-rad.com for $29 in 2011, intending to write a weekly post about adventure for a year and see what happened. Almost nine years later, his writings on Semi-Rad.com are read by half a million people each year, and even more in his Semi-Rad column for Outside magazine. Read more…

Summer Reads

Trek to wild mountain peaks, cycle around the world, paddle Alaskan waters, and take a closer look at the nature within your city this summer with our top recommendations to add to your reading list.  Read more…

Bookmarks | Peak Nutrition: Smart Fuel for Outdoor Adventure. An interview with Chef Maria Hines

Most people know Maria Hines for her culinary accomplishments. In 2005, she was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s 10 Best New Chefs, in 2006 she went on to open her first restaurant, Tilth, in Wallingford, and in 2009 she won the James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest. Read more…

Introducing The Mountaineers Statement on Climate Change

Since its earliest days, The Mountaineers has been committed to conservation and stewardship of wild places. That’s why we created our Carbon Footprint Reduction Committee, tasked with helping make sure that The Mountaineers and Mountaineers Books are doing our part to address the global climate crisis.  Read more…

Thai Coconut Curry Vegetable Stew

Are you cooking at home more these days and need some healthy but delicious recipe suggestions?  Whether you're an outdoor athlete looking to improve your performance or simply an at-home chef seeking to better your understanding of nutrition, Peak Nutrition will appeal to and inspire those interested in cultivating a healthy lifestyle in the kitchen and beyond. Read more…

All 2019 Braided River titles are Nautilus Award winners!

Braided River, the conservation imprint of Mountaineers Books, is proud to announce that out of more than 550 entries, all four of their 2019 titles were awarded Nautilus Awards. The Big Thaw: Ancient Carbon, Modern Science, and a Race to Save the World (Braided River, 2019) was also named the Grand Award Winner, which accompanies a $2500 grant award for the author and photographer.  Read more…

Retro Rewind | Mountaineers Books: Fulfilling Our Mission, 60 Years and Counting

A squabble over climbing styles nearly tore The Mountaineers apart in its early years. Choosing instead to put differences aside, that turmoil spawned a text so seminal that it would come to be read religiously by aspiring climbers around the world. Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills is now seen by many as the pinnacle of climbing education material, and next to it since the beginning is the nonprofit publisher Mountaineers Books. Read more…

A Letter from the Editor

Dear Readers,

This month of April marks the 60th anniversary of Mountaineers Books, an independent and nonprofit publisher based in Seattle. For sixty years we’ve been publishing books that educate readers about the outdoors, connect us all to wilderness places, and inspire everyone to find their own outdoor adventures. While we are widely known for our comprehensive and expertly researched guidebooks and instructional texts, we also have an extensive list of award-winning narratives—outdoor adventures, natural histories, biographies, memoirs, and more. Read more…

Create Your Own Victory Garden

Imagine a bowl of fresh vegetables glistening on your kitchen counter, ready to make the most nutritious and flavorful salad or curry or pizza. It would be even more nourishing if the lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and basil came from just a few feet outside your door. Read more…

Eating Healthy & Caring for Community during COVID-19: Join Thursday's web event

Spring has sprung and so has the growing season at local farms--all in the wake of the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak. The #WeArePugetSound book and campaign has been promoting different ways that people can show up to protect our environment in the Salish Sea. But we know a healthy environment requires healthy communities too. Read more…

Why Hornbein Gives: The Importance of Philanthropy in Nonprofit Publishing

When I asked Tom Hornbein about his relationship with reading over his 89-year lifespan, he didn’t answer, he simply rotated his computer forty-five degrees so I could see the room behind him on our Skype call. What was revealed was an entire wall of books, most of them about outdoor adventures, many of which were Mountaineers Books titles. Buried in his stack is surely his own book, Everest: The West Ridge, which follows his and partner Willie Unsoeld’s groundbreaking 1963 first ascent of Mt. Everest via the treacherous West Ridge. It doesn’t take a bibliophile to recognize that this collection is the mark of fervor; his ice axe long stowed, Hornbein now sits on a mountain of literature.  Read more…

Recommended Nature Reads

The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and it's clear that spring is upon us once again. The rhythms of nature bring comfort during difficult times, and remind us that in spite of everything the world keeps turning.  Read more…

Miles from Nowhere: An Excerpt from the Adventure Travel Classic

Originally published in 1983, Miles from Nowhere: A Round-the-World Bicycle Adventure  tells the exciting and heartwarming tale of Barbara and Larry Savage’s 23,000-mile bicycle odyssey, which took them through 25 countries in two years. It has provided inspiration for legions of modern travel-adventurers and writers over the years. Tragically, author Barbara Savage was killed in a cycling accident just before the book came out. 37 years after it was first published, we are thrilled to release a new edition of this classic cycling adventure. This new edition features an original foreword by award-winning writer Tara Austen Weaver, as well as an insightful interview with Barbara’s widower, Larry. Read more…

Volunteers Needed! Share Your Favorite Mountaineers Book

Goosebumps. The Babysitter's Club. Anything by Lurlene McDaniel or Dr. Seuss. My childhood was shaped by the stories and images in books, but I could hardly anticipate how much the books I read in college would change the course of my life. Read more…

Make a Date with a Book

Happy Valentine’s week, book lovers! Are you looking for The One? The page-turner that you feel was written just for you? Look no further. Whether it’s cycling, hiking, photography, poetry, or humor that makes your pulse race, we’ve lined up some books that have ‘soulmate’ written all over them. Read more…

TRANSITIONS: A Note from Mountaineers Books Publisher, Helen Cherullo

In 2020, Mountaineers Books celebrates 60 years of nonprofit publishing and award-winning books by and for the outdoor, mountain, and conservation communities. At the same time, I am personally celebrating 20 gratifying years as Publisher. I have learned more about myself, relationships, and what truly matters in life through guiding our staff—and working with authors and photographers to share their voices and stories with enthusiastic readers and dreamers. During my tenure, we have published more than 750 books, many of which are still in print today. Read more…

Zion National Park's Must-See Sights & Activities

While much of Zion’s scenery is best viewed on foot, there are a number of must-see destinations that visitors can enjoy with only a modest amount of walking. Of course, nobody can talk about “must-see” activities in Zion without mentioning its two most famous hikes—Angels Landing and The Narrows. This list will give you a sense of how to prioritize your agenda for a first-time visit while also giving you ideas for subsequent visits. Read more…

Bears and Salmon

I anchored the boat in a bay at the mouth of a pristine coastal stream in Prince William Sound. Leaden clouds covered the valley, masking the serrated, glacier-clad peaks of the coastal range. Under the lichen-draped spruce and hemlock canopy skirting the slopes lay a carpet of moss and thickets of spiny devil’s club, alder, ferns, and blueberry bushes. Rufous hummingbirds flitted through the trees while high overhead, marbled murrelets, a small seabird, nested on the mossy limbs of four-hundred-year-old evergreens, some with a basal diameter of nine feet. Tiny birds atop forest monarchs, a scene as if envisioned by Tolkien.  Read more…

The Five Rules of Crack Climbing

One of my earliest crack climbing memories is of a notorious route on Peak District gritstone called The Vice—a short, steep hand-and-fist crack that requires a bit of brute force and tenacity, but with the correct techniques is not overly difficult. A confident twelve-year-old me spotted the HVS (5.10) grade in the Stanage guidebook, thought “that’s within my ability,” and then spent the next 20 minutes dangling on the end of a tight rope with my feet paddling the air and brushing the ground. Read more…

Remembering Mountaineer Dee Molenaar

Dee Molenaar, an international mountaineering legend, Pacific Northwest hero, climber, geologist, and artist, passed away on Saturday, January 19, 2020. He was 101. A public memorial will be held on Sunday, October 10, 2021.  Read more…

Looking Back: Mountaineers Books' Year in Review

Happy New Year—and Happy New Decade! We wanted to take this opportunity, at the onset of the 2020s, to review the past year and all the books, authors, and impacts that we discovered and shared: Read more…

Our Most Popular Blogs of 2019

We share a lot of content through our blog! With a community of 14,000 Mountaineers participating in courses, trips, activities, and so much more all the time, plus a nonprofit publishing division creating 30-35 books a year, we have plenty to share. Here are our Top 10 most read blogs of 2019:  Read more…

Rising: The first North American Woman to summit Everest

In 1986, Canadian Sharon Wood became the first North American woman to summit Mt. Everest and is still one of the very few who have accomplished the summit via the West Ridge. As we look forward to her BeWild presentation on January 9, we would like to take a moment to share an excerpt from her new release Rising: Becoming the First North American Woman on Everest. It has been edited for length. Read more…

Thank You Outdoor, Conservation, and Book People

When the daily news starts gnawing a hole in my soul, I know it's time to get together with the outdoor community. I know that spending time with this positive group will lift me up. Read more…

BeWild Speaker Series - Introducing the 2020 Lineup

For six years, we've hosted the BeWild Speaker Series to bring you stories of passion and adventure. We're excited to announce this year's lineup, which includes the first north american woman to summit Everest, a world-class mountain guide, the creative mastermind and author behind Semi-Rad.com, and the first Indian-American to complete the Seven Summits.  Read more…

Holiday Gift Guide - Books and More

What do you get the outdoorsperson who has everything? Here at Mountaineers Books, we know that—as with so many things—the answer can often be found in a book. From the climber to the birder, we have something for everyone on your list. Read more…

Field Notes From An Arctic Climate Photographer

The Big Thaw: Ancient Carbon, Modern Science, and Race to Save the World introduces the scientists and students studying Arctic permafrost and what it contains: a vast store of ancient carbon, more than four times the quantity found in all of today's forests, a ticking carbon bomb releasing carbon dioxide and methane as the permafrost thaws. Through Chris Linder's stunning photographs, we meet the people and processes at work across remarkable Arctic landscapes from Siberia to Alaska's Y-K Delta.  Read more…

Top Nature Hikes in Tacoma

You may not immediately look to Washington’s third largest city for a walk in the wild. So be prepared to have Tacoma surprise you. Within the hustle and bustle of this metropolitan area are some large natural areas laced with excellent trails that invite walkers, hikers, and runners of all ages and abilities to explore and be wooed. So no need to head to the backcountry this weekend if you're looking for a great place to do an all-day hike, long run, or get-back-to-nature stroll. Check out these three urban wildernesses in and near the City of Destiny from my new book Urban Trails: Tacoma instead.  Read more…

The Best Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Hikes

The desert Southwest can be cold in the peak winter months but awesome by April and May. So now is a good time to start planning a trip to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Southern Utah. Following is a hike excerpted from The Best Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Hikes, the new guidebook by co-authors Morgan Sjogren and Michael Versteeg. We chose this adventure to share because, well, how often do you have a chance to do a hike called the "Cosmic Ashtray?" Read more…

Armchair Adventures For Fall

It's that time of year when the mercury plummets, the rains arrive, and we want to wrap ourselves in a warm blanket and cozy up with a book. But that doesn't mean we're going to stop exploring! How does traveling Italy by bike, venturing into the Alaskan wilderness to photograph wildlife, or joining the thru-hiking community on the Appalachian Trail sound? How about making a ground-breaking ascent of Mount Everest via the West Ridge, becoming the first North American woman to do so? All this and more is available for your reading pleasure, so settle in, pour yourself a hot beverage, and enjoy our armchair adventure recommendations. Read more…